Searching for Treasures in the Clouds

Yu Ru followed Yun Wenzhi and his wife to the northern part of the capital. Upon arriving, another group of people appeared and took over their control over her. Yu Ru was not quite clear about the situation and could only follow the newcomers blankly.

The second group of people took her to a place that resembled a detention center, with two guards standing watch at the entrance. However, this detention center was more comfortable than a typical prison; she was the only inmate, and the interior was furnished like an ordinary residential house, complete with a kitchen, living room, bathroom, and dining room.

Today is Yu Rulai's second day in the detention center.

She was strictly forbidden from contacting the outside world. Having known beforehand that her electronic devices would be confiscated, she didn't bring her phone or computer with her this time. She feared that her surrendered devices might be lost or leaked inappropriate information.

Fortunately, once she arrived here, her superiors provided her with a mobile phone to play with, so she wouldn't be too bored. This phone had a few fixed contacts, basic functions, and could even watch videos, but it also had a monitoring function, so she couldn't watch whatever she wanted; there were restrictions.

This time, the Yun family arranged for an aunt and a bodyguard to accompany her, but the detention center had very strict entry and exit requirements. The bodyguard and aunt were stopped by someone who said they needed to be checked before they could be allowed to pass.

She was all alone in the detention center, and she couldn't help feeling bored. She could only listlessly scroll through the surveillance phone she'd been given, watching short videos. After a while, she couldn't take it anymore; a strange restlessness made it impossible for her to concentrate on anything. She tossed the phone aside, leaned back on the sofa, and stared blankly at the coffee table in front of her.

The past few days of running around had left her exhausted. She was lost in thought when her eyelids grew heavy, and she gradually fell asleep.

She woke up again after an unknown amount of time and heard faint voices coming from not far away. She immediately sat up. After tidying herself up, she tiptoed to the window and pulled back the curtains a little to observe the situation outside.

Five or six people in uniform appeared and were talking to the guard. Some of them were carrying briefcases, some were carrying folders, and others were carrying long, rectangular boxes, the contents of which were unclear. In short, they all looked respectable, as if they were government officials.

Yu Ru's eyes darted back and forth between the five or six new faces, a sudden sense of foreboding rising within her. Based on her years of experience judging people, she sensed a malevolent glint in their faces.

Without a second thought, she rushed to the kitchen, searched for a handy tool, and hid it in different places such as the living room, bedroom, and bathroom. Then she sat on the sofa pretending to play on her phone, waiting for the group to come over.

After a long while, the door opened.

It must have been opened by the guard; the guard has the key.

Yu Ru sat calmly on the sofa, looking at her phone, intently watching the movements behind her. The footsteps grew closer and louder, and Yu Ru's heart pounded louder and louder. "Thump, thump, thump," one sound after another, like a drumbeat.

"Ms. Lin." A slightly shrill female voice rang out.

Yu Ru's survival after being arrested hinges on the outcome of this power struggle between good and evil. If the righteous side gains control of the narrative, she lives; otherwise, she dies. Not wanting to die under her true identity, she reported herself as Lin Xiaocao to her contact. The higher-ups, aware that this identity was false, allowed her to continue using it during the investigation after considering various factors.

Yu Ru looked up and saw that the men had arrived in front of her. The two in the lead were staring straight at her, while the others were looking around the detention center. One of them had placed something that looked like a speaker on the table. Feigning ignorance, she looked at them and asked, "What are you doing here?"

The woman in front of her looked to be in her forties or fifties, with drooping eyelids that added to her menacing appearance. She stared at Yu Ru with a half-smile, not answering her question, but instead saying, "Ms. Lin, we are from the investigation team. We've come to ask you a few questions."

"Which group are you from? Who sent you? Why didn't I receive any message? Please show me your identification." Yu Ru looked at the people in front of her warily, pressed the power button on her phone twice with one hand to send an emergency call for help to her contact, and slowly reached into the gap between the sofa and her knife, which was hidden there.

"Ms. Lin, you are a prisoner. Just accept our interrogation and don't ask us anything else." The woman's face turned cold.

“I’m not a criminal. I’m just here to assist with the investigation as someone with information.” Yu Ru’s expression also turned rude. “If you can’t produce the relevant identification, please leave. Otherwise, I won’t answer your questions.”

"Don't be so stubborn. Do you think you're here to live a normal life? This is prison," the woman said sarcastically. As she spoke, she winked at the two men beside her, who immediately reached out to grab Yu Ru.

Yu Ru dodged to the side, quickly pulled out the knife hidden in the sofa crevice, and slashed at the two men.

"Ahhh!"

The two were startled and quickly took a big step back.

Yu Ru gripped the knife tightly and seized the opportunity to leap over the sofa and run towards the door. However, the door was locked, and she couldn't turn it. She had no choice but to run towards the window. Reaching the window, she hurriedly shouted outside, "Come..."

Before she could even cry for help, she sensed someone approaching. She immediately turned and began slashing wildly at the air with her knife to deter anyone who came near. At the same time, she tilted her head slightly and shouted towards the window, "Help! Murder! Help!"

The two men who came to arrest her were momentarily intimidated by her kitchen knife and could do nothing to her.

The three people standing quietly to one side began to discuss their countermeasures.

"What should we do? This woman has a knife. It's not worth it if she goes crazy and slashes wildly, causing us to bleed to death."

"Don't you have a stun gun? Take it out."

"Can that thing even be used? What if someone gets electrocuted? Isn't she a key person that the higher-ups are keeping an eye on? She definitely can't die now."

"Turn it to the lowest setting. The lowest setting will cause pain, but not death. Take it out quickly."

……

The detention center wasn't large, and Yu Ru could hear their conversation clearly, but she still didn't put down the knife. It wasn't until the men actually pulled out a half-meter-long stun gun that she realized they had brought a real weapon.

Yu Ru had never been shocked by an electric baton before, but she knew it was no good and would definitely hurt. She wisely put down the knife in her hand, raised her hands, and surrendered.

"If only you had listened to me earlier, we would have made all this trouble for nothing," a man said, his voice full of disgust for Yu Ru.

As soon as Yu Ru put down the knife, the two men who had come to grab her grabbed her arms from either side. Yu Ru struggled at first, but after kicking her legs a few times, she remained unmoved and was held by the two men, so she stopped struggling. It was better to conserve her energy than to struggle desperately, and besides, she was a weak woman, and no matter how strong she was, she couldn't be stronger than two men holding her up at the same time.

Yu Ru was dragged back to the group of men. The two men holding her shoved her roughly to the ground, grabbed her arms, pulled her back, and forced her to kneel. Yu Ru endured it without uttering a sound, keeping her head down and eyes lowered the entire time.

"Ms. Lin, do you know Li Yuesheng?" It was the same woman who asked the first question.

"I don't know her, I've never heard of her," Yu Ru replied, her head bowed.

She remembered Li Yuesheng, a confidant of a high-ranking official, a member of the Spider Cult, and one of the people she had lured to that villa. He was utterly despicable; she shot him dead, hitting him on the back of the neck where he had a spider tattoo. As the woman in front of her asked about Li Yuesheng, Yu Ru had a rough idea of ​​who was behind them.

"You haven't heard of her? Impossible." The woman looked at the man next to her holding the stun gun, then pointed at Yu Ru, "This woman is dishonest, teach her a lesson."

"Row."

The men showed no mercy. Instead of teaching her a lesson, one of them raised his stun gun and struck Yu Ru hard on the back. The blows and the electric shock made Yu Ru tremble all over. She clenched her teeth tightly, trying not to scream too loudly and show her weakness. But it hurt so much that her teeth chattered, and she couldn't help but groan softly through her lisp.

With a suppressed roar, she suddenly lost her balance and swayed precariously. If it weren't for the two people standing beside her like door gods supporting her, she would have already fallen to the ground.

The men present stared at her with smiles. One of them said, "Little sister, just answer whatever they ask you, otherwise you'll get hit a few more times and it won't feel good."

Yu Ru was still trembling, and she kept her head down without making a sound.

"I'll ask you again, where is the treasure land of Evergreen?"

Yu Ru was silent.

"Evergreen Treasure Land" is a term frequently mentioned in secret correspondence among members of the Spider Cult. Yu Ru spent some time studying its meaning. Evergreen signifies evergreen mountains and represents eternity. "Evergreen Treasure Land" means a place with the most abundant and nourishing spiritual energy, and also implies immortality.

To put it bluntly, these people have everything except immortality to continue enjoying everything they possess; eternal life is their ultimate goal. Most of the powerful figures who joined the Spider Cult were searching for the secret to immortality, and also, to cultivate immortality. They were chasing after places with spiritual energy, yearning for superhuman power.

Yu Ru remained silent, and the men grew impatient. One of the men spoke up, "Little sister, if you don't talk, don't blame us for punishing you with electric batons again."

Yu Ru blinked and said, "I don't know, but... I read a secret letter. A man named Liu Zuren discovered the location of the spiritual energy of the Evergreen Treasure Land and obtained a map from someone. If you want to know the secret of the treasure land, go find Liu Zuren."

Liu Zu, another powerful figure. This was also the name Yu Ru saw among the numerous documents she found at the villa. She didn't know or understand either Li Yuesheng or this Liu Zu, only that they seemed somewhat connected. But that wasn't important. She remembered that Liu Zu might be an ally of someone behind Li Yuesheng. Since she'd asked, she'd drag him down with her and let them fight like dogs.

……

Later, in an attempt to force Yu Ru to tell the truth, this group of people subjected her to vigilante justice, beating her, shocking her with electric shocks, and asking her numerous questions, all of which Yu Ru uttered as complete fabrications. She possessed a wealth of information, a large brain capacity, and remembered many things, making her story sound entirely true.

She didn't know if those people believed her, and she couldn't see their faces; her consciousness was fading. It hurt so much.

Just as she was about to lose consciousness, she heard footsteps and shouts outside...

Perhaps they are reinforcements, or perhaps a new wave of people coming to torment her?